Originally Posted by sbl

I recently read a scientific article that looked at the development of the banana flower from it's very beginning in the corm. Roughly, the flower begins forming after about leaf 25 on a banana that will flower after about 33-35 leaves. So, the flower is already formed and inside the stem.

The article did not answer the question I was looking to answer--when and if the differentation of flowers from male to female occurs before it emerges--if that has already happened, you probably have nothing to worry about.